Meditation-It's Benefits

 

Meditation  has been a part of India's spiritual practice since eons.Today's hectic lifestyle and concomitant travails impel many in India and across the seas to try it as a soother or a benefactor.It enables the followers to fathom the pitfalls and intricasies of daily life which goad them.

• Lately science too has taken note of this tendency and one such research came up with the following result-

"Modern diagnostic and imaging techniques, like electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, show that meditation can positively affect your brain and mental health."

By https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21521-psychosomatic-disorder

In a nutshell, meditation implies sitting straight in a comfortable position and focusing upon  a single object like your breath, heart, the space between your eyes, or a mantra. In the beginning, your mind will be overcome by many thoughts of different kinds.You should merely take it back to the target you have decided to focus upon each time with a smile. It can take many days or weeks to achieve success but the benefits will certainly be there!

The Benefits-

• Meditation calms the mind and eases tensions.When you sit down to meditate, various thoughts will flicker through your mind but when you focus on a single object unrelated to the hassles of daily life, you forget them for a while.You learn to shelve them.The brain can only think about one thing at a time.Focussing on your breath you enables you to forget your worries, and peace prevails. The feelings of guilt, shame, anger or frustration arising from the past subside, and you are able to fathom the cause of those problems.This is an excellent tool for nixing anxiety.
• It increases the power to concentrate on any one thing. It primes our sense faculties and also helps us to control them. Focusing upon a single object day after day teaches us to concentrate upon the work at hand, which is essential for achieving success in daily life.
• Meditation improves the power of memory.Research at The Massachussets General Hospital in Boston found that regular meditation increases blood flow to the cerebral cortex which controls mental functions like attention,learning,concentration and memory.Find this at -https://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/meditation-and-memory.html

Meditation increases self-awareness. Strange though it may seem, we bumble through life committing the same mistakes, misinterpreting reality and drawing wrong conclusions.When we meditate we become aware of  the quirks in our personality, the deep-seated complexes, irrational prejudices, unfounded fears and unreasonable expectations. Intrusive thoughts which could have been the precursers of a severe emotional problem are nixed. When the labyrinths of our unconscious mind are laid open, we can understand the emotional turmoil which lies at the root cause of our anxiety, and sort it out.

• It promotes the understanding of others. When we become aware of our own fault-lines we feel more attuned to those with whom we had been at cross purpose till now.Meditation confers a largeness of heart-an ability to overlook others' foibles and transgressions, to relate to them on an equal footing.
• It augments our confidence and will-power.It has a miraculous effect upon our self esteem.The sharpening of our mental faculties results in greater confidence and will-power. We feel in control.
• Meditation can off-set many physical ailments like migraine, hypertension, aches and pains, allergies and addictions.WHO says nine out of ten diseases are psychosomatic.When meditation calms the mind and eases anxiety the diseaes too vanish.

Today's lifestyle,with it's countless aspirations and hassles is tailor-made for mental turmoil and restlessness.Meditation is a great tool for easing the mind and gaining  tranquility.

Dealing With Change

If we can be sure of one thing,it is this-that changes will happen.Whether we like it or not!The changes can be of any kind-good and inspiring or bad and depressing.The good ones require no elucidation,we all imbibe them willingly.But the bad ones need more consideration.

• Fear Of Change-If we confront a change which is not pleasant,or inscrutable to say the least-it leaves us perplexed.We do not like it because it portends something unknown whereas we are comfortable with the way things are at present.We don't want to leave old associations,a comfortable routine and all that we are accustomed to.We lose sleep and spend hours worrying about the future.We are afraid of  all that it might bring in it's wake.Yes,but it  is a falacy to presume that it could be detrimental to our health and happiness.We should keep an open mind about it's repercussions.Because of this fear we  delay coming to terms with that change.
• Accepting a Change- Everything around us is in a constant flux and changes are inevitable.It is no use negating them by burying our heads in sand.When faced with a drastic change think carefully if it is compulsory to accept it.Can we reject or shelve it till a more convenient time?If the circumstances indicate that we should accept it,then we should treat it as a necessary evil so that we can take charge of the situation and chart our course of action.While it is true that a  change  lodges us into an unknown territory,it has often been seen that a change which appears devastating at first turns out to be good for us.
• The Benefits Of Accepting A Change-When it becomes clear that this change has come to stay it is best to become friends with it.Changes usher progress and growth.Indeed even if we face some ill-effects in the short run,it  could be the gateway to a better future.Changes compel us to re-evaluate our goals and aspirations,learn new skills,make new associations and in this way they enlarge our scope.We can then determine the steps to be taken for fulfilling our needs.In this ever-changing world it is impossible to stay in a safe cocoon for ever.That is impossible.It is wiser to try and set our own house in order.Prompt action cuts losses.
• Negative Changes-An ominous change-whether in the sphere of our health,relationships,job or domicile-can turn out to be unsavory.It could shake us to the core,but what can we do?By fighting what has come to stay we will  only exhaust our energy.The sooner we accept it the faster will we progress on the road to recovery and resettlement.The heartburn and damage will be less if we rebuild our life according to it.Even if this change comes with some ill-effects,there could be a few fringe benefits too.Sometimes one has to go with the flow.A change in job or place will add to our friend-list and also enable us to get rid of old irritants and advrsaries.Changes in health are difficult to gulp but once we accept this fact we can start remedial action.A change in relationships is harder to   embrace but it happens precisely because the old relationship had begun to jar.Who knows better luck might be on the way?
• Be Alert To Subtle Changes-The shock due to major changes can be considerably dulled if we keep our antennae finely tuned to the rumblings which precede it.Leaving aside the sudden calamities no change is sudden.An alert observer will see the signals beforehand.A couple may begin to have daily fights instead of occasional bickering,a boss may show his displeasure in various ways.If we notice these changes then we will not be taken by surprise. 
• Adapt To The Change-Once we have made up our mind to live with a new development the next step naturally is to adapt to it as well as possible.Alter your habits,priorities and attitudes wherever necessary.Admittedly this is the most taxing part but it becomes easy if you learn new skills and converse with those who are already there.Build a new chapter of life around this new event.You will then fit comfortably in the new scenario.If there is still any bias about this new happening counteract it with hope and action..

If we wish to prosper and be happy we shall have to synchronize with the changes which are taking place in our life and around us.When circumstances change we too have to change.Otherwise we shall remain a misfit--incompetent and unhappy.

This post is only about the mundane life and related issues.The changes brought about by science and technology are not in my field.

Memories

A nebulous entity inside our mind-or maybe our brain-is mighty powerful.It controls so many fascets of our life which we think are happening due to our own volition,but at the stem is that same entity.All this-without even our knowing it.To cut a long story short-it is nothing but our own memory.As we all know,memory is the ability to retain and recall information.It plays a major role in our lives.It comes unannounced,uninvited,and then spreads it's net over us.

We may not realize,but it does decide whom we like and whom we keep at a distance.In this way it circuscribes our friendships and communities.It also circumscribes our comfort-zones as a result of our past activities,their outcomes and related experiences.Our memory of those experiences decides what to attempt and what to shun.

Another major function of memory is to help us pass time when we are lonely and have nothing to do.At such moments long forgotten/suppressed events or individuals come to the fore.If we recall happy incidents we shall be cheerful,rearing to go,repeat a simiar incident or connect with someone who was a part of that experience.On the other hand if we think about our failures,shocks,traumas or tragedies we shal be morose and woebegone.We must try to conjure those happenings which make us upbeat and positive.I wrote about a similar incident in "Association of Ideas" which signifies the actions of memories.In this way our memory constructs our moods and mind-set.Naturally this also shapes our personality.

Another way in which our memory functions is to help us plan our  future actions-naturally,since we would not like to repeat an error or a failure.That is not all-it also protects us from prospective dangers or mishaps.

Any talk of memory cannot but touch the factor of forgetfulness.Does our brain age as we grow old?Is Dementia inevitable?From a layman's point of view it is not so.The more we use our memory the sharper will it become.Use it as in--learning new skills,connecting with others,talking to them,solving puzzles,reading new articles etc etc.Try what appeals to you and improve your memory.

Here's wishing you good luck!